Joe Posch: Mike Duggan's small mention of Detroit's gay community is a huge deal

6:35 PM, November 8, 2013

It seems like a little thing, in 2013, to include the LGBT community in a statement of acceptance and unity, but politics and the power of the pulpit have kept gay people out of the discussion in Detroit for years. / Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Minneapolis Star Tribune

Joe Posch

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A bit of history was made in Detroit on Tuesday night, and I’m not referring to the fact that Detroit elected the first white mayor in decades. I’m talking about the fact that for the first time in recent memory — if ever — a Detroit mayor explicitly mentioned gay people in a message of inclusion in a major speech.

It seems like a little thing, in 2013, to include the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in a statement of acceptance and unity, but politics and the power of the pulpit have kept gay people out of the discussion in Detroit for years.

Detroit was once on the forefront of acceptance for gays and lesbians. In 1979, it was among the first few cities in Michigan to pass a nondiscrimination ordinance that included sexual orientation. But since then, this kind of progressive attitude has declined in tandem with Detroit’s fortunes.

Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s infamously ignorant comments about gay people during his first term reverberated in the gay community far beyond Detroit’s borders, as did the African-American clergy’s vocal get-out-the-vote support for Michigan’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2004. And even the election of an openly gay City Council president didn’t broaden the discussion, as Charles Pugh spent most of his term publicly distancing himself from perceptions that he might be too strong an advocate for the gay community.

As a result, outsiders have long believed Detroit to be openly hostile toward gays and lesbians. But the thousands of LGBT people living in the city — by birth and by choice — generally find Detroit to be a welcoming and neighborly place. Yet, gay visibility and discussions of the LGBT role in revitalizing the city have remained virtually nonexistent.

Duggan’s simple comment is a long-needed statement from Detroit leadership that the city is a welcoming place for LGBT people. And more significantly, it sent an important message to LGBT Detroiters: You matter because of who you are, not in spite of it. No pandering, no being coy. Just a message that you count just as much as everyone else.

Here in Michigan, where gay rights have continually regressed for more than a decade, few places proudly send the message that the LGBT community is welcome. Judging from the cheers that accompanied Duggan’s statement, Detroit is finally one of them.

Joe Posch is a Detroit resident and owner of Hugh, a boutique in Midtown. He formerly wrote the Supergay Detroit blog.